Injuries at an inopportune time affected Kyle Mills's prospects of making a more significant start to his international career. While he was recovering, Shane Bond, Ian Butler and Jacob Oram seized their opportunities, making it harder for Mills to force his way back. In and out of the team after the 2003 World Cup in which he made only one fleeting, wicketless appearance - he marked another comeback, against Pakistan in 2003-04, by picking up a reprimand for excessive appealing. However, he did enough to earn a call-up for the tour of England in 2004, and made his Test debut in the third match at Trent Bridge. But he picked up a side strain during the game, and was forced to fly home and miss the NatWest Series. That was a shame, as one-day cricket is really his forte: he played throughout the 2005-06 season, chipping in with wickets in almost every game, even if his once-promising batting had diminished to the point that he managed double figures only once in 16 matches.

A feisty temper remained, though: Stephen Fleming had to pull him away from Graeme Smith during a bad-tempered one-day series towards the end of 2005. Mills returned to South Africa for the Tests early in 2006, and picked up eight wickets in the two matches he played, almost doubling his career tally. He played in the 2006 Champions Trophy, but his injury jinx struck again and he was ruled out of the 2007 World Cup with a serious knee problem. He returned to fashion a crushing 189-run Test victory over England in Hamilton in March 2008, but was later ruled out of the remainder of the series as his knee played up once again. He recovered in time to join Kings XI Punjab at the inaugural IPL, in early 2009, and led New Zealand's attack against Australia in the Chappell-Hadlee Series, in which he picked up nine wickets at 20.33, subsequently making his way to the No. 1 spot on the ICC ODI bowlers' rankings.

In November 2009, once again he was forced out of cricket, requiring shoulder and knee surgery. He made another comeback in mid 2010, only to fall prey to another injury half-way through the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent - Mills was ruled out of knock-out stages of the tournament with a quadricep strain. Parallel to his injuries, his discipline issues persisted, and he picked up a couple of fines for breaching of the ICC code of conduct between 2009 and 2011.ESPNcricinfo staff September 2011

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